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 Post subject: Mayflower 1/64th Scale
PostPosted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 9:54 am 
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My name is Dennis, and I live in California. I specialize in WW1 aircraft in 1/72nd scale but I have always had a desire to build at least one wooden ship model before the hands or eyes give out. I am a few clicks short of 75 so that could happen at any time. In May of this year (2017), the Artesania Latian Mayflower was presented to me as the original buyer's hands did give out and he was unable to continue building. The scale is 1/64th and since I am hardwired for 1/72nd, at least the parts will close to size I am used to working in.

The kit came to me with the hull under construction and I thought I would give it a try. I have no wooden ship building tools so I will be adapting my plastic skills and tools to the project. If I can pull this off, my goal will be to return it to the gentleman who started it as a gift. I will have the pleasure of building the kit (one more item off the bucket list) and he will have the ship model that he wanted. Since we are both in our golden years, speed is of the essence. My completion date is set for the end of 2017. I have photos of the progress since May and they will be posted over the next week or so to catch up with the current progress.

Thank you for your time.

Dennis

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Last edited by djuggie on Fri Sep 15, 2017 7:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 7:57 pm 
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Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2010 12:01 am
Posts: 1643
Location: Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Welcome!

I have built several wooden planked hull sailing ship models like the one you are starting. The first one was a steep learning curve!

Patience is a virtue. Measure twice and cut once.

I have one suggestion at the start. After the hull planking is to your satisfaction you should paint the inside with a heavy coat of thin (very liquid) epoxy paint like airplane modelers use, or some other resin like is used with fiberglass. The paint will soak into the grain of the wood and glue everything together very firmly. If you don't do this, after time the planks will expand and shrink with temperature and humidity changes and cracks will appear in the hull.

For this reason it is better to plank the hull before installing the deck to make it easier to get to all of the inside hull surface. If the deck is already in place you can paint sections of the inner hull as planks are installed and only a few planks will not be glued firmly.

Phil

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 11:16 am 
Before diving into the hull, which appears to be a difficult undertaking, I decided to build some of the various parts of the ship. This gave a feel of working with wood and experiment with various glues. The results are acceptable to me. What I have learned at this point, is that I see a great use for super glue. This may cause some with much more knowledge and skill to gag, but the super glue works for me. I am also experimenting with TightBond III and the results are promising. Let's see what happens as construction continues. This section took place in May 2017.

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 5:30 pm 
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Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2012 11:56 pm
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Now that I have studied the plans, read what I could find on this forum, talked to a fellow modeller who built three wooden ships, it is now time for me to get serious about the hull.

There was three days of soaking the inner hull planks in ammonia and water. Then with a pair of flat needle nose pliers, the wood was bent to shape. All of the hull planks were installed with super glue. The port I installed the wood at both ends and filled in the middle. The starborad side I used the wood in one piece. I think I prefer the one piece installation but after sanding, there is no difference in the look.

All of the wood was then coated with a wood glue, hoping it would get in the cracks and crevices for some added strength. I used Bondo as a filler and sanded the entire hull at least three times. After this was to my liking, I marked off the waterline and painted the lower hull with a white oil based enamel to get the look I wanted.

The walnut veneer and the bumper were installed and this section was sanded, repairing any veneer damage I caused along the way.
This work took place in June and July 2017.

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Port side with three piece installation

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Starboard with one piece installation

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Painting, sanding and veneer installation

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Hull completed

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Last edited by djuggie on Fri Sep 15, 2017 7:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 11:05 am 
It is not time to complete the hull before I stand up the masts. This of includes all of the railings, grates, cannons, lifeboat and all of the other parts that i kept finding after I thought I had found them all. Before install the rails and the hull bumpers, I painted the markings on the side. The white and yellow were masked and sprayed. I tried masking over these colors only to have the color come up with the tape removal. So the white and yellow were repainted, these areas coated with two coats of Future floor wax and i cut and applied the red and green one piece at a time. Another coat of Future and this section was completed.
At this time, everything that was on the deck was installed. I did not want the mast to get in the way so the area was kept open as much as possible. A temporary stand was built out of foam board as I do not want the model rolling on its side when it is put down. This phase took a week or so.
The next step will be to stand up the masts and install the bowsprit.

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 7:56 pm 
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Here are some photos of the deck hardware and the bow.

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PostPosted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 8:17 pm 
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It is time to stand up the masts. Using wood glue, they were set into place, aligned, and set aside for a day to dry.


The standing rigging was next installed. The instructions called for the ratlines to be installed first but I thought it would be easier to install them second. Working one rope at a time, all of the ratlines were installed and the results were pleasing. My research material showed lacing the ratline using a clove hitch knot on each line. I tried this for a few lines and realized this was not going to work. I could not get them tight or even and this method was going to take me into the next century. So out came the wood glue, a dot of glue across the lines, the lacing pressed into the glue and left to dry. After drying, another drop of glue at each junction for strength and to give the appearance of a knot. Upon completion of the model, I will spray it a dull coat to knock down any sheen left by the glue.

With this stage completed, it is now time to hang sails.

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Last edited by djuggie on Fri Sep 15, 2017 7:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 9:18 am 
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It is now time to prepare the sails.

Using the kit plans, all sails were cut out and the seams marked in pencil. Then my bride sewed all of these seams to give the sail a more authentic look. I then learned about something called the boltrope, which is a rope that goes along all edges of every sail. This rope was hand sewn to every sail. She did most of this sewing; I did some. Tedious is a good word for this task.

After the sails were completed, they were soaked in watered down coffee. Tea gave me too red of a color. The fore main sail is shown before its morning coffee and after. Much more pleasant to work with. Grouchy sails can be difficult.

The sails are then sewn on to their respective yardarm prior to installation as it is easier to work with.
With the sails completed, it is now time to install them.


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Boltrope being installed

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Sail before morning coffee

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Sail after morning coffee

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Sewing of sail to yardarm

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PostPosted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 8:07 pm 
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After a few days off, construction resumed with the installation of the sails.

I started with the bowsprit sail, thinking this would be the easiest. Alas, I was wrong. The amount of rigging in just this section was astonishing but after several hours, it was complete.

Next was the Mizzen sail and it was very easy.

The foremast main sail was next and it did not present any problems.

The foremast top sail was next and it went without incident except that I used the last of my thread .

I hung the mainmast main sail and it is hanging until my new thread is shipped.

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Bowsprit sail

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Mizzen sail

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Foremast main sail

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PostPosted: Sat Sep 30, 2017 10:32 am 
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The thread arrived and the main sail and the top mail sail have been installed.

As of September 30, 2017, with the exception of the installation of a few minor parts and a dull coat to cover some shining spots, the ship is finished. I will wait for the base that is being built to arrive before a post the final photos.

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 3:18 am 
Can it move?i would like to see it in actual water(not fake water actual water)


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